Post-season 4 Part 2
by Chrys Benedictus
Summary: Feel free to comment, thanks for your support !


After they encountered James, it was already 11:30 AM. Walter got an idea : They had to list all the locations where containers could be found. So he typed on his laptop, in order to know where to resume their investigation. In the meantime, Cabe tried to access the same information using his cell phone. From now on, several leads showed up : A Chinese shipping company, a recycling center, a few naval museums, a cruising agency. Both of them had the strong feeling their friends were being held (captive) somewhere at the docks. As one might think, it's a pretty wide area to cover, it would require time and patience, indeed. Although Cabe could use his muscles and his weapon as a tool to impress someone, he thought it wasn't appropriate given the circumstances. On top of that, in order to avoid casualties, they had to take their time, and they should bet on tact solely.

They first suspected the Chinese shipping company, since it would make sense Chinese terrorists would be crossed with team /scorpion; it was a way of thinking because the team had been working for the US Government over the years. Neither Cabe, nor Walter wished for a shallow investigation. Consequently, they remained unbiased and thorough.

Once they made it to the Chinese shipping company, they were lucky enough not to find a closed office. The desk employee agreed to answer all of their questions; she was so straightforward, and seemed so honest and sincere in her replies that they were both convinced she told the truth (Toby's skills would have helped a lot in such circumstances). As a consequence, neither Cabe, nor Walt had the feeling the company had something to do with the kidnapping and sequestration of the team.

Their second lead was the recycling center, it was nearby. Unfortunately, the office was closed since it was lunch break, so, they really wanted to come by again later.

Sadly, all the museums were closed too. Sneaking through the (air) vents was an acceptable alternative; Cabe suggested they should go to the cruising agency instead (in fact, it was better to make sure sneaking through the museums' vents was absolutely necessary, instead of putting aside a serious and legal lead). The cruising agency's staff seemed astonished to see two individuals looking around. Walt had an idea then : He could quickly craft a "thermographer's software", there, Sly's skills could have helped the investigation. Walt truly needed half an hour to complete his crafting; his newly created software was certainly simple but efficient.

Eventually, he needed to "attach" this software to a portable device. Walt sent Cabe to do some shopping.

A few minutes later, Walt was already waiting for Cabe's return. He came back with all the required components. Once assembled, this device looked like a directional microphone; it aims at picking up living creatures' thermal prints nearby, then, the signals are correctly interpreted and translated directly onto the laptop's screen, using the newly-created software. Of course, Happy's unique skills for engineering would have saved several minutes in the process.

This technological jewel will narrow down again their research. They now had to go to the museums again; finally, to go back to the recycling center.

Once arrived at the museums, afternoon was already there; after the lunch break, Cabe and Walt could find a desk employee. As anyone would expect, he was quite bewildered by this "thing" Walt had with him. While Walt swept the area using his new device, Cabe took care of the questionning.

Neither that, nor Walt's sweeping were conclusive.

After that episode, they had to head for the recycling center. Walt and Cabe had to zigzag a lot between lots of containers and monstruous piles of compacted trashes. Walt had a heart's pinch when he saw that particular pile of overused computing devices. As for Cabe, he was looking for someone to talk to, for instance a recycling employee. Walt seemed impassive and kept sweeping the area with his "thermographer".

Forty minutes spent. They had the feeling the compound was deserted, no one seemed to work there and no one seemed to live nearby either.

All of a sudden, Walt's thermal kind-of radar showed something big; probably one of the containers, on the east side. It "stated" it definitely contained life forms. But the pictures were still blurred : Were they animals' or humans'? Or was it a system's bug?

They walked for ten minutes, and reached a container... It had been locked by several chains all linked to a huge padlock. Walt stared at his laptop's screen, in order to know more about the life forms picked by the device. Cabe was already looking around him, searching for a huge iron pipe or even a big piece of metal, he was clearly thinking about smashing the padlock down.

He could find a huge iron pipe, he used it straight away to repeatedly hit the padlock and the chains. It seemed he was relieving the pressure too, at the same time. After three strong blows, the padlock fell on the ground, completely smashed beyond repairs.

Walt got back, just in case.

Cabe took the time to draw his 9 mm, after he threw the iron pipe, to his left.

What on Earth would they find in this bloody container?

(To be continued...)


End file.
